Because the deal was still in the works, the details of JP Morgan's record $13 billion fine to settle civil violations related to mortgage-backed securities it sold before the housing crisis have been murky.

For the record, the Justice Department has decided not to make JP Morgan pay punitive damages for mortgages sold by Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, since JPM essentially helped the government out by buying the banks as they were collapsing.

So that's nice, but the figure will still stay at $13 billion.

Now for the numbers:

$4 billion will go to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

$4 billion will go to underwater homeowners

$3 billion will go to institutional investors that lost money on bad mortgage backed securities

and $2 billion will serve as a penalty for JPM's conduct in the lead up to the financial crisis

According to the WSJ, all the drama surrounding this deal started on September 24th, the day the DOJ set a deadline to file a civil suit against the bank over MBS. The day before, JPM called and offered $3 billion, which the DOJ refused.

Then JPM called back and said they'd negotiate a higher figure if they didn't have to go to Court.

That brings us to now. After the government shut down ended, lawyers at the DOJ told JP Morgan they had six days to cobble an agreement together. What that means is that we could have a finalized agreement by this week.